The Internet allows end-users operating computing devices to request content from many different content providers. In addition to providing requested content, many content providers provide additional content items that originate from third-party entities. The third-party entities may compensate content providers when the content providers deliver the additional content items to the end-users or when the end-users select the additional content items. However, some applications through which the content providers display the requested content and additional content items, may be configured (intentionally or unintentionally) to automatically select additional (third-party) content items. This selection practice is referred to herein as “selection fraud” or “click fraud.” Selection fraud artificially inflates the number of alleged entity selections, which increases the amount that the third-party entities must compensate the content providers. Additionally, some users may disproportionately select additional (third-party) content items even though the entities have no interest in learning more about the third-party entities. This type of fraud may be referred to as selection and/or impression fraud, and has the same adverse (from the point of view of the third party entities) compensation effect. Selection and impression fraud has proven difficult to detect.
The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section.